YQG - Your Quick Getaway has come a long way in the past 95 years, from its modest hanger in "the middle of nowhere" to the current hub of regional, national and international travel.
The airport celebrates its 95th birthday on Friday with a small gathering of staff, stakeholders, and contractors.
CEO Mark Galvin grew up not far from the airport in Fountainblue. He told WindsorNewsToday.ca that there are older airports in Canada, but not many. The first, at Long Branch in Toronto, only opened 13 years before.
"The airport has been part of my DNA since I was little," he said.
It wasn't always called the Windsor Airport. In 1928, it was called Walker Airport, after Hiram Walker, the founder of Hiram Walker and Sons.
Galvin said the airport was expanded several times through the years but has never had a complete teardown.
"It just kind of kept being built on," he said. "It's always evolving."
Galvin said the celebration is a nice way to put the troubled years of the pandemic behind the airport. It was closed for six months, and there are still challenges.
Many pilots retired over the pandemic, and technology has taken a bite out of business travel since people can work from home.
However, since the pandemic, the airport has added flights to Vancouver, Halifax, and Montreal. Flights to Orlando start in January, and Sunwing begins trips to Cuba and Cancun by the end of the year.